On request of Operators in North-West Province we enquired about a so called MSR device. Even if you don't operate in these areas you should take note of this as the company who sells this, intends to force operators in all provinces to use their device.

What is a MSR device?MSR means: Jukebox Maximum Sound RegulatorIt is a device which needs to be installed in a jukebox which will control the volume and shutdown time of the jukebox.The shutdown is controlled by disabling the comparators at a present time and it supposedly works with a handheld device which the police can use to control the volume setting.

History of the MSR device.This is the brainchild of Mr Evert Schoonbee from Zeerust in the North-West Province. He is an operator which operates mainly in the North-West Province and Limpopo.He is also known to operate as far as the Northern Cape and Freestate.Mr Schoombee started to whole revolution with the MSR device and he formed a company called E.M.G Electronics which handles the sales and installation of this device.He is actively marketing his device and seeing various police officers and the Liquor Boards from some provinces.

The Issue.With the documentation I have in my possession it has became clear that Mr Schoombee is manipulating the operators and site owners in these areas for his operating company's gain.

Here are quotes from letters I have received:

First Letter:

"29th November 2011

SUBJECT: JUKEBOXES IN LIQUOR OUTLETS: NORTH WEST PROVINCE.

The above bear reference.

This letter serves to inform your office that the Liquor Board resolved on the 2nd December 2010, that only jukeboxes fitted with the Maximum Sound Regulator (MSR) device, should be used in the consumption liquor outlets in the province.

It is therefore requested that liquor traders with jukeboxes fitted with MSR devices, should be allowed to have those jukeboxes in their liquor outlets.

It should also be noted that liquor licenses were erroneously issued with a condition that "no jukeboxes allowed" instead of that jukeboxes should be fitted with the MSR device as resolved by the Liquor Board on the 2nd December 2010.

Attached is a copy of the letter to Mr E Schoombee of E.M.G Electronics. "

The operators I have spoken to and who has reported this to me was not aware of what was going on surrounding the "no jukeboxes allowed" phrase on the liquor license.Some operators even went to see the police and they were also in the dark about this and in some areas the police has just banned all jukeboxes because of the "no jukeboxes allowed" phrase on the liquor licenses.From the above letter it is clear that Mr Schoombee was aware of what was going on with the "no jukeboxes allowed" phrase which were on the license documents of the North West Province.It is my conclusion that Mr Schoombee used this to gain sites.

What does it cost?:From the information that I have received, it seems that there will be a monthly cost of about R60 - R70 which is a maintenance fee for the device. It seems like this will include the cost of the unit and installation.

Installation of the MSR device:According to Mr schoombee, only his company, E.M.G Electronics are allowed to install the MSR device.This is certainly the biggest concern for operators as Mr Schoombee will have access to all their sites, not only for the installation but also for maintenance.

Second Letter:

"JUKEBOX MAXIMUM SOUND REGULATOR (MSR) DEVICE

The abovementioned as well as the Liquor Board Meeting on 2nd December 2010 have reference.

The Board considered your representation and resolved as follows:

1. On-consumption license holders must only use jukeboxes with MSR device. 2. All MSR devices must be fitted by a reputable service provider. 3. The MSR must be set to switch off at 02H00. 4. In the event of any jukebox related complaint, E.M.G. Electronics will assist in resolving same.

Hope you find the above in order."

There are no mention that E.M.G Electronics need to do the installation. As you will see from the quote above it says, "must be fitted by a reputable service provider".

Practical Problems with the MSR device:1 - It must be able to be installed with any jukebox. This means that it will need to be installed over any existing system which will make it easy to totally disconnect or modify the device. The device as I understand will disable the comparators. This means that the wiring will be split to a switching device. The same will apply to the sound.2 - It is alleged that this device is used in conjunction with a handheld device which is used by the police to control or adjust the volume of a jukebox which havea MSR device installed.To me, no police officer in their right mind will enter a Tavern at for example 22H00 at night and adjust the jukebox volume to a lower level without getting some serious trouble from the customers inside the Tavern.3 - If the device just cuts power to the comparators at a certain time, what keeps me from loading the jukebox with a huge queue before the comparators are disabled?

Conclusion:There are a huge conflict of interest in this matter.It is a conflict of interest when an operator tries to force the industry to do what he wants when it is clear that he has started this MSR device for his own personnel gain while we have much bigger issues at hand like illegal DJ's, sound systems, copied music played from laptops/computers and problems with music rights usage licensing which are not resolved.

Also note that Mr Schoombee also does not have the device installed on his own jukeboxes as yet. No one I have spoken to has see one to this day. The jukebox is fitted with a plug on the outside of the jukebox where the police are supposed to connect the handheld device to, which they use to adjust the volume.

We also have the issue of what is the volume level the jukebox is supposed to be set to? How is this determined? Can every policeman just set it to what he would like?At this point no one can tell me what the decibel level of the volume on a jukebox should be. I'm not sure if the North West Liquor Board approved the MSR device volume control system with the use of the handheld device by police as there should by a clear set guideline for this.Also, who would be responsible to test the decibel levels of a venue and how will this be done?This is also a very difficult issue if you keep in mind that noise complaints are regulated under the Municipal by-laws and not really the police.This is a huge grey area and proper legislation must be put in place in order to regulate this first.

Please drop me an email if you are a victim of this in some way and tell us all about it. We are busy building a file around these issues as operators in North West has indicated that they will take this matter to court if they are forced to use the MSR device.

Please note that CoinplaySA will only pass all information on to the effected operators and that Coinplay was asked to investigate this matter and to provide feedback regarding the "no jukeboxes allowed" and MSR issues.